Office Design Complaints
As an office or facilities manager, you likely get complaints from your staff about your office every day:
- “It’s too noisy”
- “The furniture is uncomfortable”
- “It’s always too hot (or cold)”
And many, many more.
These constant complaints are very frustrating for you. Even worse, they often hint at a deeper issue that may damage your company over time. However, just because your space has issues, it doesn’t mean you need to do a full office refurbishment or relocation. Often, there are adjustments you can make that improve the experience for your colleagues - and make your job more enjoyable.
In this article, we'll share the 8 most common complaints we hear when surveying staff about their current office designs. We'll go through the impact they have on your company, and what you as an office/ facilities manager can do to resolve them. By the end, you'll know how to fix your office's most frustrating issues, driving improved wellbeing and performance across the company.
“The furniture is uncomfortable.”
Uncomfortable furniture is the most common complaint of office workers. It may be frustrating to hear some staff complaining about this often, but ergonomic furniture can lead to back pain, repetitive strain injuries, and long-term health issues. This will be very damaging for staff wellbeing and productivity.
The first thing to do is to make sure your people know how to adjust your current furniture. Showing staff how to do this will fix most, if not all of the issues. However, if your furniture is outdated, worn, or poor quality it may need replacing with modern commercial furniture, While this may seem like an unnecessary cost, it will provide a good ROI in improved staff wellbeing, focus, and productivity.
“There’s not enough light/ natural light.”
Another common frustration with office design is the lighting. Many offices are designed with meeting rooms and private offices on the outside, while the most-used areas of your office may have little natural light. If your lighting system is more than 15 years old, it will probably increase eye-strain for your stafff.
There are several things you can do to improve the lighting in your office. The first is to make the most of the natural light you have by reconfiguring your office to place the most popular areas near windows. It is also important to make sure the colour of your artificial lighting mimics natural light, rather than being too cool or too warm.
“It’s too noisy.”
High noise levels are often regarded as an unavoidable drawback of an open-plan office design, but this is not the case. Distracting noise levels are a result of poor layout and finishes choices rather than staff density. Regardless of the cause, distractions can have a huge impact on the productivity of your people.
To reduce the noise levels in your office, you could look at installing acoustic panels or upgrading the soundproofing of your walls. If it's due to layout, you will need to reconfigure your office to ensure collaboration and focussed working areas are not near each other. You could also install a sound-masking system to neutralise background noise.
“It’s always too hot (or cold).”
One of the most complained about issues in the office is the temperature. Everyone has a different opinion on the ideal temperature, and it's impossible to please everyone. However, it’s important that your office is at an optimal temperature for most people. If it is too cold or too hot, your people will struggle to concentrate, reducing their performance.
While it may be impossible to please everyone, various studies have shown that the optimal temperature is 21-22oC. To maintain it at this temperature, your system should be centrally controlled, rather than having a controller that anyone can use. You should also ensure your system has adequate capacity to cope with the number of staff in your office.
“There’s not enough meeting spaces.”
Staff often complain about the lack of meeting spaces. However, this rarely means that they want more meeting rooms- but that they have a lack of space to collaborate informally in small teams, which is how most collaboration happens.
To improve the collaboration in your office, survey your staff to find out how much they collaborate, what kind of work they collaborate on, and what size teams they collaborate in. You could then look at converting some of your less popular office areas into small-team collaboration areas.
“It’s so cramped."
While many offices have a lot of wasted space, poor layout and/or space allocation mean that many staff feel cramped. This will reduce their satisfaction, which has a knock-on effect on their productivity. It will also mean they are more likely to be distracted.
Just because your office feels overcrowded, it doesn’t necessarily mean you need to move office, Most offices have 30-40% wasted space so by engaging a design expert to analyse how your people work and design a more efficient space. To learn more, read How to Improve Your Space Utilisation.
"There's nowhere to store my belongings"
Another common issue staff raise about their workspace is a lack of storage space. This is especially true if you have a hot-desking system. This leads to a cluttered and untidy workspace, which increases staff distractions.
To resolve this, you should first minimise or eliminate paper in your office, as this is the most common source. You could also install smart lockers so that staff have somewhere to store their equipment without cluttering up the office.
"The breakout spaces are really outdated"
Another common frustration many staff have with their office design is a cramped and/or outdated kitchen space. These spaces can sometimes be an afterthought in office design. however, quality relaxation spaces are essential for staff to relax and recharge, improving overall morale and productivity.
The first thing to do is to ensure you have enough breakout space. This will depend on the size and role of your office, but is normally 5-15% of the total footprint. You should also ensure your breakout spaces are well-designed inviting areas with comfortable seating, appliances, and amenities that encourage relaxation and socialization.
Solving Your Office Design Challenges
While they may seem frustrating or trivial, addressing the office design frustrations and complaints of your people is essential to maximising the performance of your workforce and company. By creating a working environment where your people feel supported, their wellbeing, satisfaction, and productivity will increase. As a result, your overall company performance will improve.
To learn more about improving your office, download your Definitive Office Design Guide. There, you'll learn everything you need to know about office design before you reach out to an office designer, from costs to processes to common mistakes. Download your Design Guide Here.
Every day, your office is either helping or hurting the performance of your people and company. To find out which and how to improve it, read this article.
